In the formation of yarn from roving, it is common practice to twist the roving while subjecting it to a stretching and smoothing operation; a typical apparatus for performing this treatment is shown in the U.S. Pat. of Franzen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,392 issued Dec. 9, 1975. In such prior art machines the roving passes downwardly from a horizontal package roll to a vertical spindle where a yarn package is formed. When such apparatus is used to convert roving of certain materials, many problems exist. For instance, when the roving is made of asbestos, a considerable quantity of lint and dust is formed. While in the past this dust presented only housekeeping problems, it has recently been discovered that asbestos dust can lead to lung disease and, possibly, to cancer. Governmental agencies, such as that operating under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), have suggested that spinning machines that cause asbestos dust to be expelled into the air should not be used. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art apparatus have been obviated by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a spinning machine for forming yarn from roving without the generation of lint.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a spinning machine for twisting asbestos roving and generating a package without expelling dust into the air.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a spinning machine of a low profile design all parts of which are accessible to a person of normal height standing on the supporting floor.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide a spinning machine which is simple in construction, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which is capable of a long life of useful service with a minimum of maintenance.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.